When they work, nootropics can make you more productive, happier, more alert, and can help you build better habits. When they don’t work, they can keep you up all night, make you tired, give you a headache, or even cause a potentially dangerous overdose.

I’ve experimented with nootropics for years, but I don’t consider myself an expert on them. That’s why I brought in two people who are experts.

Marius van Voorden is the owner of Nootropics.com, an online nootropics store which also publishes in-depth articles and guides on specific nootropics.

Notice that both of them work in the nootropics industry. Marius sells nootropics under the Nootropics.com brand. Mike doesn’t sell his own branded nootropics, but he sells a book on nootropics and acts as an affiliate for nootropics companies.

That said, I have found them to be knowledgeable, honest and credible; their advice aligns with what I’ve learned in my own reading and research. They are candid about the dangers and limits of nootropics. Perhaps more importantly, they both stress the use of nootropics as an addition to, not as a replacement for, living a healthy lifestyle.

What follows is a transcript of the interviews I did with each of them, annotated with my own comments to add clarity or context. I’ve provided a wrap-up at the end to summarize major points and provide direction for you to get started with nootropics yourself.

The Interview

How did you get started using and learning about nootropics?

Mike: I’ve always had trouble focusing. When I was an undergraduate almost twenty years ago, I first started experimenting with nootropics. I didn’t know they were called nootropics at the time, but I started researching and trying different substances. Within a semester, my grades improved significantly. Since then, I’ve been researching, trying, and writing about nootropics.

Marius:I got into it as an aspect of transhumanism, which for me means the idea that humans, as we currently are, are not the best we could be. That naturally leads me to be interested in ways of being better, of improving ourselves. The range of tools for that is pretty broad — from therapy and coaching to meditation, and having a life schedule and to-do strategies, exercise, and proper sleep — for me, nootropics are another tool in the toolbox of things to try out and use.

In general, how useful do you think nootropics are for productivity, compared to other productivity strategies?

Mike: The most important things you can do for productivity are to eat properly, get plenty of exercise, and get plenty of high-quality sleep. Most people don’t want to hear this, but it’s the truth. Nootropics come second. That being said, nootropics can be incredibly useful for boosting productivity. As long as you’re eating well, exercising, and getting plenty of sleep, nootropics can significantly improve your mood, reduce anxiety, and boost productivity. But if you’re not taking care of these three basic things, nootropics aren’t going to work nearly as well as they could.

Marius: It varies a lot per person and per life situation. Productivity can get blocked because of various things, and it varies just as much if nootropics help with that. Ideally, we’d have perfect information about how we work and why we work, and a perfect life schedule with a good balance of motivation and discipline rooted in long term goals. From there, it would be easier to see how and where nootropics could improve things. Realistically we’re just trying to make our life work the best as we can, and figure out for which bits nootropics can help on an experimental basis.

Which nootropics do you personally use?

Marius: Most consistently, I use Melatonin. It lets me get a full night’s sleep in 7 hours instead of 8, waking up naturally without an alarm. I quite like that. Take note of the dosage considerations, though.

I use Tianeptine occasionally for a better mood, Phenylpiracetam because (for me) it reduces the activation energy to get started on things, and Adrafinil in addition to my morning caffeine if I need a lot of attention/alertness that day.

Author’s Note: The melatonin dosing is super important, and adrafinil and caffeine need to be used with restraint to avoid causing insomnia later that night. I explain this in more detail in my guide to overcoming insomnia.

Mike: I’ve tried them all. Okay, maybe not all. But I have tried dozens of different nootropics over the years. The ones that I keep coming back to, the ones that I use somewhat regularly, are some of the most common nootropics. Modafinil, caffeine and L-theanine, and ashwagandha are three that I use the most. The first two are for focus, and ashwagandha is to reduce stress and anxiety.

Author’s Note: Mike is referring to caffeine and L-theanine in combination as a single “nootropic,” as they’re commonly taken together. More detail on that in the final section.

Which productivity supplements do you consider the most underrated?

Marius: I quite like Melatonin as a way of improving sleep, making your daytime more useful. It’s not always regarded as a nootropic, but I think a lot of the less-than-positive experiences can be ascribed to having a dosage that’s too high.

Mike: I don’t know if I’d call it underrated, but: caffeine and L-theanine. Since caffeine is so common, I think a lot of people overlook it as a nootropic. This simple nootropic stack, when dosed properly, can significantly boost productivity. The L-theanine cancels out the negative effects of caffeine (jitters, anxiety, crash a few hours later), leaving the user with a calm sense of focus.

Which productivity-oriented nootropics do you consider the most overrated?

Mike: Most of the nootropic blends out there that contain a bunch of different substances. You’re better off buying individual nootropics and combining them yourself. Not only will it be cheaper, but you won’t be taking extra stuff that you don’t need.

Marius: I always have major question marks with blended products, especially proprietary blends. I understand the appeal of a blend aimed at a specific effect, but in my experience the same nootropic affects different people differently, so you can’t make a general “perfect blend” anyway. And then as a consumer, you get a blend with lots of different things in it — it may have some positive and negative results, and you don’t know what caused what and how much of it caused it.

Mostly in life, I look for “gears-level understanding,” or understanding of the mechanisms that make something work. With regards to nootropics, that means trying out individual nootropics that aren’t blended, so that I can find out what effects a specific nootropic has. You see that idea reflected in our products, too — everything we sell at the moment is an individual nootropic.

Author’s note: I’m really impressed with both of their answers here.While I’m not always against blended supplements, more often than not they’re just a way for companies to pad the perceived value of an item by adding in a bunch of extra ingredients that either don’t do anything or are included in insignificantly small doses. This is particularly true when products include a “proprietary blend,” the label for which doesn’t have to state how much of each ingredient is included.

Anyone who’s big into nootropics and dietary supplements is aware of this issue, but it’s truly rare to see someone who sells nootropics for a living being this honest about it.

Which productivity supplements do you consider the most dangerous?

Mike: The ones that say “proprietary blend” on them. What this means is that, while they have to list the individual ingredients, they don’t have to list the dosages. You always want to know not only what you’re putting into your body, but how much.

Marius: Not a specific supplement, but in general I’m wary of some things being sold in bulk powder amounts. Not everyone has a microgram scale, and even then, some products can be quite risky if you misread the display. I’ve personally seen people misplace a comma on things that you really shouldn’t take 10 times more of it than they’d planned. This too shows up in our products: we sell capsules with predefined dosages for convenience, but also for safety considerations.

For the record, some things with big risks if you mis-measure are:

Caffeine (It has a really low lethal dose, riskier than most nootropics.Be very careful with caffeine powder.)

Tianeptine Sodium (The more common but less safe and less convenient variant of Tianeptine Sulfate. High amounts can lead to euphoria, which can be risky and even addicting.)

Any choline source (It can trigger depressive episodes in people prone to that. High amounts might trigger worse episodes, I reckon.)

I’m not a medical professional though, so this isn’t medical advice, just my best understanding of the general state of knowledge. Obviously, it’s best not to mis-measure anything in the first place.

Author’s notes: I’m not familiar with Tianeptine so I’ll defer to Marius on this one. Regarding caffeine — the lethal dose is around 5–15 grams, caffeine pills are normally around 200 mg, and most caffeinated beverages are 50–150 mg, with a few energy drinks going as high as 300 mg. So, I agree with him on not using powdered caffeine — and caffeine pills are very cheap anyway — but caffeine is very unlikely to cause a dangerous acute overdose in any other form. I would keep the dosage below 200 mg out of concern for sleep and addiction though.

Because bulk powders are the cheapest form in which to buy any dietary supplement, I do recommend them for safer supplements. Before buying a bulk powder, do your research and find out a) how easily you can overdose on a supplement (is it 5x the normal dose? 20x? 100x?) b) how dangerous is an overdose (can it kill you or will it just make you throw up?) and c) how easily the supplement can actually be consumed as a powder — does it taste okay? Does it dissolve in water? In general, I consume ketones and amino acids in powder form, but most other things in pill form.

What is the first supplement you would recommend that most people try for boosting productivity?

Mike: The first thing I would recommend is that you’re eating well, sleeping well, and exercising. The first supplement I’d recommend for boosting productivity would be Modafinil. Many people find it to be effective and it’s generally pretty safe. Either that or caffeine and L-theanine.

Marius: Adrafinil is the most well-known one. It’s fairly noticeable for most people, which makes it easy to tell what it’s doing and if it’s doing anything.

Author’s notes: I definitely agree with Mike—handle the fundamentals first before getting into nootropics. Regarding Adrafinil: it’s less well-known than Modafinil, but it’s also sold online, while Modafinil requires a prescription. Since Adrafinil converts to Modafinil in the body, it’s the more accessible alternative.

Which class of nootropics would you most like to see more research on?

Marius: Any kind of nootropic, really. I’d love it if the idea of nootropics became more normalized. Currently, you only take things if you have some kind of issue. Taking something is supposed to bring you back to your baseline, but if you’re already at your baseline, then according to society, any further improvement has to come out of thin air, or through pure body and mind. But who’s to say what my baseline is, anyway? And what my best sustainable state is? And why would I not use all the tools I can find to get there?

Mike: LSD and psilocybin (the active ingredient in psychedelic mushrooms) microdosing. Unfortunately, due to the ridiculous drug laws in the U.S., it’s incredibly difficult to do scientific research on these substances. There are a lot of anecdotal reports that indicate microdosing can be incredibly effective at increasing productivity.

Author’s note: I agree with both of them. Currently, there is some promising research being done on psychedelics.

What is the biggest mistake that you see beginners make when using nootropics?

Marius: It’s hard for beginners to get into nootropics because it varies so much from person to person. You have to experiment with a few different things to see what it does for you, and what works for you. That’s not really a mistake on their side, but it’s definitely a problem. We’re thinking of creating a beginner’s pack, which has a bit of everything, to help with that.

Mike: Trying one or two things and giving up when they don’t do what you hoped they would. Everyone’s brains are wired differently. Not all nootropics work the same for all people. I, for example, don’t get much out of most racetams (piracetam, oxiracetam, aniracetam, etc.). However, tons of people find that they increase focus and motivation, improve mood, and reduce anxiety. Don’t get discouraged if the first thing you try doesn’t work. Keep learning about different nootropics and try something else.

Author’s note: Since neither of them said it—my answer would be trying too many new things at once, and consequently not being able to tell which one has which effect.

How does using nootropics for productivity affect your sleep? Is there a tolerance that builds up? Is it a case of short-term benefits but long-term pain?

Mike: Some nootropics are known to negatively affect sleep. Modafinil, for example, can cause insomnia when dosed too late in the day. If you need to pull an all-nighter, though, Modafinil will absolutely help you get through the night.

Getting enough high-quality sleep should come before any nootropic.Most people find that, as long as they don’t take certain substances too late in the day, nootropics don’t negatively affect their sleep. If something you’re taking is affecting your sleep in a bad way, over time, it’ll catch up to you. Some nootropics might make you feel more alert and productive in the short term but, if you’re not sleeping well every night, your productivity is going to suffer in the long term.

Marius: It varies per nootropic. Adrafinil will keep you awake if you take it too late: it gets converted to Modafinil in the body, and Modafinil is also used as an anti-narcolepsy medicine. That’s gonna keep you awake. On the other hand, I call any supplement a nootropic that improves some aspect of yourself that you want to improve, so Melatonin is a nootropic as well. That one improves sleep.

Tolerance varies per nootropic too. We try to be very clear on that on our product pages; how often can you take it, can you expect tolerance, etc.

I’m definitely not in favor of things that have short term benefits at the cost of long term pain, and we don’t sell anything with serious trade offs like that. The overarching aim is to improve your life in the general sense, not in the short term. That being said, some people do say that they feel more tired the day after they use Adrafinil, but if you see that coming ahead of time you can factor that into your plans. Adrafinil can then still be a nice option to intensify one day, and then rest the next day. You’d have to try it out to see if that applies to you as well.

A Summary of Specific Nootropics Mentioned, with Recommendations

There are literally hundreds of nootropics out there—more than I could hope to cover in one article. Here’s some info on the few that Marius and Mike mentioned in their interviews.

Caffeine + Theanine

The combination of caffeine and L-Theanine (often simply referred to as theanine) is one of the most popular nootropics- as well as one of the safest and most well-studied. It is widely recommended (and I concur) as the first nootropic that most people should try.

You know what caffeine is. L-Theanine is an amino acid analog of L-glutamine and L-glutamate, and is mainly known as one of the constituents of green tea. It contributes to the savory flavor of green tea (caffeine alone is very bitter) and exerts a calming effect on the brain. This calming effect mitigates the mental side effects of caffeine, such as anxiety and jitteriness, and is the reason why the effects of green tea are commonly felt as milder or more mellow than the effects of a normal caffeine buzz.

This combination is typically taken in a 1:2 ratio of caffeine to theanine, with the most common dosage being 100 mg of caffeine and 200 mg of theanine. Note that this is much more theanine than you’d get from simply drinking tea, as tea typically has 2–10 times as much caffeine as theanine. Theanine must be consumed as a supplement, though you can certainly get your caffeine from tea if you want. (Green tea typically contains between 30 and 50 mg per 8-ounce serving.)

Marius van Voorden: Good combination. Everyone is familiar with caffeine, and L-Theanine just improves the experience. Nice and understandable for people new to nootropics, too.

Melatonin

Melatonin is the primary hormone responsible for sleep onset. It is produced naturally by the brain in response to fatigue and low environmental light (particularly blue light) level. It’s also available as a pill — over the counter in the U.S. and some other countries, or by prescription in other countries, including most of the E.U.

Melatonin is very safe, with side effects no worse than placebo. This holds true even at higher dosages; while there’s little reason to use a high dose, there also seems to be little risk in doing so. Some individuals do report needing a higher dose for it to be effective, but this seems to be rare based on the research.

The optimal way to use melatonin seems to be to take between .3 and 1 mg, 30–60 minutes before you want to go to sleep.

Marius: It lets me get a full night’s sleep in 7 hours instead of 8, waking up naturally without an alarm. I quite like that.

Piracetam

Piracetam is the granddaddy of all nootropics, and probably the only one that can compete with the caffeine + theanine combo for sheer popularity. It belongs to a class of related nootropics called racetams, and despite having been around since the 1950’s, it is still poorly understood.

Anecdotally, many users report improvements in mood, cognition and the ability to focus, but these are not supported by research at this time. Many other users report no effect at all. Response to Piracetam seems to be highly individual.

Piracetam is typically dosed between 1200 and 4800 mg/day, split into two or three (ideally three) doses. Based on the research, 400 mg three times a day is a good starting point. After the first two weeks, this dosage can be gradually increased to 800 mg three times a day — the highest dosage to have strong support in the research.

Marius: Useful, depending on the person. The various racetams affect different people differently, which makes it hard to make general statements. Some experimentation required to see if it works for you.

Mike: It didn’t do much for me. I don’t seem to respond to many of the racetams.

Phenylpiracetam

Another member of the racetam group, Phenylpiracetam hasn’t been studied as much as Piracetam. It seems to have similar effects as Piracetam, but the required dosage is several times lower.

That said, widespread anecdotal reports suggest that it has similar effects to Piracetam, but with more of a stimulant effect. At least one study has found that rats move around more, and faster, after taking Phenylpiracetam. This has lead to it becoming modestly popular for athletic enhancement, and being banned as a doping agent in many athletic organizations.

The typical dosage is 100–200 mg, taken 2–3 times a day, for a total daily dosage of 200–600 mg.

Marius: For me, it reduces the activation energy to get started on things.

Choline

Choline is not a drug, per se, but a naturally occurring essential nutrient. It is water-soluble, vitamin-like, and occurs naturally in many food sources — most notably in egg yolks.

Its use as a nootropic stems from the fact that Choline is the primary building block of Acetylcholine, the primary neurotransmitter responsible for learning. In addition, since a Choline deficiency can cause fat accumulation in the liver, Choline is sometimes used to help treat fatty liver.

Choline is one of the more popular nootropic supplements. It’s safe, affordable, and usually used in stacks with other supplements that act on the cholinergic system — as Choline can, at least in theory, potentiate anything else that promotes the production of Acetylcholine.

If you want to try a Choline supplement, they come in several forms. CDP-choline and alpha-GPC are the two forms thought to be most active in the brain. Daily dosages range from 200 mg once a day, up to 1500 mg divided into several daily doses. I’d recommend staying near the lower end of that range, personally.

As always, start low and gradually raise it over the course of several weeks, and be especially conservative if stacking it with other nootropics. To avoid overdosing, take Choline in pill form, not powder form — see Marius’s comment below.

Marius (repeated from the interview above): If you mis-measure [… ] any Choline source […] can trigger depressive episodes in people prone to that. High amounts might trigger worse episodes, I reckon.

Ashwaghanda

Ashwaghanda is an herb known in ayurvedic (Indian) medicine for its ability to reduce anxiety and allegedly help the body adapt to stressors.

The typical dosage is 300–500 mg per day, either divided or taken with breakfast. Lower doses, around 100 mg per day, may be preferable if combining it with other anti-anxiety agents. There’s a lack of data on how Ashwaghanda interacts with other anti-anxiety agents, so don’t combine it with prescription anti-anxiety drugs (at least without talking to your doctor first).

Mike: Ashwagandha (is one of the) three (nootropics) that I use the most…to reduce stress and anxiety.

Modafinil and Adrafinil

Over the past few years, Modafinil has become one of the most popular well-known nootropics. It has been the subject of many mainstream media articles- and arguably a bit of a fad.

So what is Modafinil? It’s a prescription drug for keeping narcoleptics awake, and it’s very effective at what it does. It’s prescription-only in the U.S. and Canada. Adrafinil, on the other hand, is available over the internet, and it’s a prodrug of Modafinil — that is, it converts to Modafinil in the body.

While it is often compared to amphetamines, the effects are markedly different. Modafinil andreaction time only slightly increases blood pressure; overall, its effects seem to be less physical and more purely mental compared to most stimulants.

Modafinil is typically dosed at 100–200 mg per day. It has a very long half-life — around 15 hours — so it should only be taken first thing in the morning, before breakfast, unless you want to stay up very, very late that night.

Adrafinil converts to Modafinil at somewhere between a 3:2 and 3:1 basis. That is, 300 mg of Adrafinil converts to somewhere between 100 and 200 mg of Modafinil, so the starting dosage should be around 200 mg. Since Adrafinil itself has a half-life of one hour, the effects last even a little bit longer than Modafinil. Again, only take it first thing in the morning.

Mike: The first supplement I’d recommend for boosting productivity would be Modafinil. Many people find it to be effective and it’s generally pretty safe. Either that or caffeine and L-theanine. Modafinil…can cause insomnia when dosed too late in the day. If you need to pull an all-nighter, though, Modafinil will absolutely help you get through the night.

Marius: Useful for most people. The effect is similar to caffeine, but without the jitteriness/anxiety that can come with it. Adrafinil gets converted to Modrafinil in the body. Adrafinil will keep you awake if you take it too late: it gets converted to Modafinil in the body, and Modafinil is also used as an anti-narcolepsy medicine. That’s gonna keep you awake.

Some people do say that they feel more tired the day after they use Adrafinil, but if you see that coming ahead of time you can factor that into your plans. Adrafinil can then still be a nice option to intensify one day, and then rest the next day. You’d have to try it out to see if that applies to you as well.

Author’s thoughts: I like both of these but I use them very sparingly and at low dosages- like 50–100 mg, not 100–200, because of the long half-life. You can take a little caffeine with it in the morning, then have a tiny bit more caffeine around noon, to benefit from the synergistic effect. Since caffeine has a shorter half-life than Modafinil, that doesn’t keep me from sleeping the way a higher dose of Modafinil would. Regardless, I’d limit this one to 1–2 days a week, only on days when you want to work really late.

LSD Microdosing

LSD microdosing is currently growing in popularity as a way to improve productivity, mood, creativity, and overall well-being. Due to its legal status, research on LSD microdosing has been nonexistent until recently. While studies are now starting to be performed, the results aren’t out yet. That said, many individuals have found LSD microdosing to be highly effective, even life-changing.

So what is microdosing? A typical dose of LSD is around 100 micrograms — most blotters are dosed at that level, and that’s the typical “party dose” that will make you hallucinate a bit, but not completely lose your mind and forget where you are. People who want to “trip out” might take several times that much.

A microdose, by contrast, is around 10–20 micrograms. This dose doesn’t cause hallucinations, and in fact, the effects tend to be very subtle. Mostly, it just makes you have a really good day. People who microdose typically take this dosage in the morning once every 3–4 days, and usually find that it doesn’t cause a tolerance at this level.

Mike: [I’d like to see more research on] LSD and psilocin microdosing. Unfortunately, due to the ridiculous drug laws in the U.S., it’s incredibly difficult to do scientific research on these substances. There are a lot of anecdotal reports that indicate microdosing can be incredibly effective at increasing productivity.

Marius: Haven’t tried this either. It seems interesting, but I’m a little worried about research that claims LSD permanently increases how open-minded you are.

Nicotine

Yes, nicotine, the main ingredient in cigarettes. Surprisingly,nicotine in isolation seems to be far safer and less addictive than tobacco products, and is fairly popular as a nootropic. Part of this may be because cigarettes have other chemicals besides nicotine, but the rate of delivery is important too. Nicotine patches seem to be less addictive than other forms of nicotine, such as gums and inhalers — researchers attribute this to the slower rate of nicotine delivery in patches, which avoids any euphoria-inducing peaks.

Anecdotally, nicotine is usually used for focus, and to suppress hunger while working. For non-smokers, the dosage is usually 1 mg or less of nicotine gum, or 1–4 mg of a nicotine patch. Nicotine patches are the preferred method due to their sustained release. Since patches are dosed at 7, 14 or 21 mg in the U.S., users typically cut them up to reduce the dosage.

Marius: It’s interesting for habit formation. I reckon it can be tricky to use for people who want to see effects the first time you use something; that’s not really what nicotine is for.

Mike: I can definitely say that it increases focus.

Author’s notes: I’ve found low doses to be good for mood and focus, but they mainly enhance productivity for non-creative work. For creative work like writing, this stuff sometimes gives me writer’s block or otherwise makes me get stuck and unproductive.

For habit formation, you would use nicotine while engaging in the habit you’re trying to build, linking the buzz from the nicotine to the act of engaging in the habit, a form of operant conditioning. Like Marius says, you’d have to do this repeatedly — say 10–30 times in total, and at least a few times a week — to really build a new habit.

How to Get Started With Nootropics

There’s a lot to take in here. You’ll probably want to bookmark this article and refer back to it later.

If you’re totally new to using nootropics, I’d start with caffeine + theanine for productivity, at 50–100 mg of caffeine and twice as much theanine, first thing in the morning.

Most of all, remember that nootropics, like all dietary supplements, are just that—a supplement to, and not a replacement for, a healthy diet and lifestyle. Food, sleep, exercise, an active social life, and a fulfilling life overall are the foundations of mental health — nootropics just improve on that.

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https://getstrongafsupplements.com/blogs/news/nootropics-for-bodybuilding-supercharge-your-brain-to-maximize-your-gains2019-08-31T06:13:00-05:002019-09-07T01:47:40-05:00Nootropics for Bodybuilding – Supercharge Your Brain to Maximize Your GainsAdam Flesner
If you’re a bodybuilder, there are days when you’re stuck in a rut physically and mentally. When lack of concentration and focus creep in, you cannot achieve peak training performance. Sometimes, the body is willing but the mind simply isn’t. The good news: Modern nootropics for bodybuilding can boost your brain to supercharge your body — tapping the power of mind-over-matter to help you achieve maximum gains.

How Can Nootropics Improve Bodybuilding Performance?

Bodybuilding is as mental as it is physical. If your body is in peak shape but your mind isn’t, it will all go for naught. If you’re a bodybuilder – whether it’s professional or recreational – you need to push yourself mentally in order to conquer the toughest workouts.

Nootropics are brain-boosting supplements. The best nootropics help bodybuilders enhance several mental aspects for training performance, including the following:

Focus

Bodybuilders need lazer-sharp focus so they can crank out as many reps as possible. Just like most people, they, too, think about many things – professional concerns, family issues, and other obligations. These constantly vie for their attention.

Once bodybuilders go to the gym, they have to set these aside and zero in on their fitness routine. After they finish their last rep and leave the premises, they go back to reality. It’s a mental battle they must win consistently.

You must harness your mental faculties on your exercise routine day in and day out. If you do this, you will achieve your fitness goals whether it’s increasing muscle mass, boosting fat loss, or both.

Intensity and Motivation

Bodybuilding is an intense sport. In fact, it’s one of the toughest – ask any pro like Arnold Schwarzenegger or Sadik Hadzovic. You have to perform at peak levels every time you lift at the gym. Bodybuilding is not for lackadaisical people.

This is where intensity comes in. Your trainer will design a suitable program you must follow so you can achieve your fitness goals. This is not an easy task. Expect your training program to intensify. In other words, you need intensity and motivation to succeed at the gym. Nootropics can help you in that regard.

Stress Management

Bodybuilders also experience stress. In fact, a hard workout can take a toll on both the body and mind. These athletes commonly experience two kinds of stress:

Cortisol: This is the dreaded stress hormone which may affect training results negatively. Higher levels can impede muscle growth. If you want to gain serious muscle mass, you have to keep your cortisol levels in check.

Bodybuilding and Concentration

Concentration is essential to bodybuilding. Simply put, it means setting distractions aside so you can focus on that task at hand.

Some experts believe the true measure of concentration isn’t about the mind’s ability to focus — it’s more about the ability to block distractions so you can get the most out of your training.

Many bodybuilders resort to popular stimulants (mainly from caffeine and pre-workouts in powder and capsules) so they can gain an edge. While these supplements are effective, and offer certain advantages (increased focus and muscle pumps, improved nutrient uptake, ramped-up energy levels, etc.), excessive stimulant usage also has disadvantages:

The simple takeaway here is to keep stimulants to a minimum. If you’re on the lookout for a big-name nootropic, make sure it has little to no stimulant content so you can reap its benefits to the fullest.

Bodybuilders need to keep their stress hormone (cortisol) levels in check if they want to grow muscle mass and perform at peak levels. Rhodiola rosea wards off cortisol by modulating the hypothalamic-pituitary (HPA) axis.

It is concluded that repeated administration of R. ROSEA extract… exerts an anti-fatigue effect that increases mental performance, particularly the ability to concentrate, and decreases cortisol response to awakening stress in burnout patients with fatigue syndrome.

N-Acetyl L-Tyrosine

NALT helps offset the effects of low cortisol levels as a result of intense bodybuilding training. It helps protect the brain against stress hormones. It also helps replenish depleted neurotransmitter levels due to excessive stress.

When your mind begins to show signs of fatigue, NALT will help give it a second wind —this component has a reputation for boosting mental performance and increasing alertness, both of which can help you in the gym.

This is a crucial positive benefit because this sport can drain not only your physical reserves, but your mental ones as well. When you lift heavy weights at the gym consistently, it can take a toll on your mental energy. Supplementation with citicoline helps offset that.

In addition, citicoline enhances a bodybuilder’s mental vitality without the dreaded crash effect he may experience from stimulants.

L-Theanine

L-Theanine is an amino acid and natural ingredient of green tea. Monks have been taking this component for thousands of years because they believe it helps relax their minds.

In terms of bodybuilding, L-Theanine helps promote wakeful relaxation that is ideal for transcending physical limitations.

L-theanine works by raising alpha waves and increasing neurotransmitters, enabling a calming effect without any detrimental effects on mental performance.

Did you know? If you’re a bodybuilder who takes a pre-workout supplement with caffeine, L-Theanine can help offset its stimulatory effects. Wonder no more why manufacturers include L-Theanine in their pre-workouts.

Vitamin B6

In general, B vitamins help support cardiovascular function and increase energy levels. In terms of nootropic benefits for the bodybuilder, vitamin B6 stands out the most.

Vitamin B6 helps produce and convert neurotransmitters such as serotonin and norepinephrine. This vitamin helps increase one’s attention. If you’re having trouble focusing on your sets at the gym, vitamin B6 will help you stay locked in.;

Opti-Nutra™ Quality + Mind-Body Stacking = Healthy Bodybuilding Gains

If you are interested in stacking multiple supplements to boost your strength, intensity, and ultimate muscle gains, it’s a good idea to source all your supplements from one place: Opti-Nutra™ Advanced Nutraceuticals.

All are also delivered in 100% vegan, prebiotic-infused Plantcaps® made from pullulan (fermented tapioca). And above all, Opti-Nutra delivers the advanced formulation strategies and premium ingredients that can enhance performance naturally, for the superior bodybuilding results you seek.

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https://getstrongafsupplements.com/blogs/news/the-all-too-understandable-urge-to-buy-a-better-brain2019-08-31T06:12:00-05:002019-09-06T02:44:33-05:00The all-too-understandable urge to buy a better brainAdam Flesner
Another wave of nootropic supplements is hitting the market, promising to make us smarter, more focused, more relaxed, more in control.

I used to be able to memorize the order of a deck of cards. This was when I worked at the mall food court. I learned because a mean older boy on whom I had a big, destructive crush bought me a copy of Joshua Foer’s pop-science memoir Moonwalking With Einstein, which is about memorizing stuff.

In the world of memory competitions, the athletes train their minds with daily practice. The primary tactic they employ is the building of mental “memory palaces” — turning pieces of information into objects and placing them in sequence around a physical space that can be walked through in the mind. So, to memorize a deck of cards, I would assign each card in a traditional deck to someone important in my life. The jack of spades is my uncle Ken. The ace of clubs is my sister Sophie, and so on. I’d flip over three cards at a time, and those three people would be placed together somewhere in my parents’ house, starting with the garage. Once the house was full of 52 oddly-grouped guest stars in my life, I’d go back and convert them into the correct order of the cards in the deck, recite it aloud, and everyone would be impressed. Kind of.

(Actual competitive memorizers can do dozens of decks of cards, not just one. And they can do it very fast.)

Training my memory was a fun way to get rid of excess mental energy, itchy and bored as I was during this summer in suburbia, tortured as I was by this doomed crush. I wanted to impress a genius. I did not yet own a smartphone! I needed a better brain and I had the downtime to pursue it. What better way to do this than to work at it? What better end to put my energies than flexing a muscle over and over?

MY BRAIN TODAY IS SO FAR GONE THAT, I ASSUME, IT NEEDS AN INTERVENTION ONLY THE CONSUMER MARKETPLACE CAN PROVIDE

Now, I have less of that downtime, less of a specific understanding of what it would even mean for my brain to be better, and a lot more sympathy for the people trying to buy their way to clarity and memory and focus and control. I also have more expendable income.

My brain today is so far gone — spinning out on the usual circular thoughts of sex, death, and Twitter, fuzzy and foggy from staring at two computer screens all day — I assume it needs an intervention only the consumer marketplace can provide. So that’s how I ended up accepting an invitation to try a drinkable product called BrainGear, which promises “a clearer brain today” and “a stronger brain tomorrow,” and realizing that I am far from alone.

On January 1, 1990, President George H.W. Bush announced the start of “the decade of the brain.” What he meant was that the federal government would lend significant financial support to neuroscience and mental health research, which it did. What he probably did not anticipate was ushering in an era of mass brain fascination, bordering on obsession. And that 30 years later, we’d be trying to put genius in a bottle and then swallow it.

Arguably the first major consumer product of this era was Nintendo’s Brain Age game, based on Ryuta Kawashima’s Train Your Brain: 60 Days to a Better Brain, which sold over a million copies in Japan in the early 2000s. The game — which was a series of puzzles and logic tests used to assess a “brain age,” with the best possible score being 20 — was massively popular in the United States, selling 120,000 copies in its first three weeks of availability in 2006. (It was advertised with the slogan “Getting the most out of your prefrontal cortex.”) Lumosity, which offered a suite of memory, attention, and problem-solving browser games, launched in 2007. (Reuters called brain fitness the “hot industry of the future” in 2008.) The site had 70 million registered members at its peak, before it was sued by the Federal Trade Commission to pay out $2 million in redress to customers bamboozled by false advertising. (“Lumosity preyed on consumers’ fears about age-related cognitive decline.”)

In 2012, Felix Hasler, a senior postdoctoral fellow at the Berlin School of Mind and Brain at Humboldt University, reflected on the rise in brain research and brain-training consumer products, writing a spicy pamphlet called “Neuromythology: A Treatise Against the Interpretational Power of Brain Research.” In it, he chastised scientists for affixing “neuro” to dozens of fields of study in an effort to make them sound both sexier and more serious, as well as legitimate neuroscientists for contributing to “neuro-euphoria” by overstating the import of their own studies.

Most of all, he criticized the media. “Hardly a week goes by without the media releasing a sensational report about the relevance of neuroscience results for not only medicine, but for our life in the most general sense,” Hasler wrote. And this fervor, he argued, had given rise to popular belief in the importance of “a kind of cerebral ‘self-discipline,’ aimed at maximizing brain performance.” To illustrate how ludicrous he found it, he described people buying into brain fitness programs that help them do “neurobics in virtual brain gyms” and “swallow ‘neuroceuticals’ for the perfect brain.”

Unfortunately, he was too late, and also unfortunately, Bradley Cooper is partly to blame for the boom of the edible brain-improvement industry.In 2011, he starred in Limitless, a movie about a man who takes a special pill and becomes smarter and more capable than anyone else on Earth. I’m joking about the cultural significance of this movie, but I’m also not. It was a wild card and an unexpected hit, and it mainstreamed an idea that had already been taking hold among Silicon Valley biohackers and human optimization zealots. (TechCrunch called the prescription-only narcolepsy medication Modafinil “the entrepreneur’s drug of choice” in 2008.)

IN 2011, JUST OVER 650,000 PEOPLE IN THE US HAD MODAFINIL PRESCRIPTIONS. BY 2012, THAT NUMBER HAD RISEN TO 1.9 MILLION.

The same year that Limitless hit theaters, the up-and-coming Pennsylvania-based pharmaceutical company Cephalon was acquired by Israeli giant Teva Pharmaceutical Industries for $6 billion. Cephalon had very few interesting assets at the time. In fact, there were only two that made it worth the price: Modafinil (which it sold under the brand name Provigil and marketed as a cure for drowsiness and brain fog to the professionally sleep-deprived, including long-haul truckers and fighter pilots), and Nuvigil, a similar drug it developed in 2007 (called “Waklert” in India, known for absurd side effects like psychosis and heart failure).

In 2011, just over 650,000 people in the US had Modafinil prescriptions. By 2012, that number had risen to 1.9 million. At the same time, herbal supplements were on a steady upward climb toward their pinnacle today as a $49 billion-a-year industry. And at the same time, half of Silicon Valley was just waiting for a moment to take their human optimization philosophies mainstream.

“I Spent a Week on Nuvigil, the Drug From Limitless,” a Vice editor wrote in the summer of 2014. The following year, a different Vice writer spent a week on Modafinil. About a month later, there was a huge spike in search traffic for “real Limitless pill,” as spent a week on Modafinil. About a month later, there was a huge spike in search traffic for “real Limitless pill,” as nightly news shows and more traditional outlets started writing up trend pieces about college kids, programmers, and young bankers taking “smart drugs” to stay focused and productive.

It helped too that, as vague as the term “smart” is, “nootropics” is equally broad. It was coined by Romanian scientist Corneliu E. Giurgea in 1972 when he created a drug he believed enhanced memory and learning. (Silicon Valley types often cite his tagline: “Man will not wait passively for millions of years before evolution offers him a better brain.”) But today it’s an umbrella term that includes everything from prescription drugs, to dietary supplements on sliding scales of safety and effectiveness, to commonplace stimulants like caffeine — anything a person might use in an effort to enhance cognitive function, whatever that might mean to them. Obviously, not everyone wants to take a risky sleep medication.

For those people, there’s Whole Foods bottles of Omega-3 and B vitamins. In 2013, the American Psychological Association estimated that grocery store “brain booster” supplements and other cognitive enhancement products were already a $1 billion-a-year industry. In 2014,analysts projected “brain fitness” becoming an $8 billion industry by 2015. And of course, supplements — unlike medications that require prescriptions — are barely regulated, making them a nearly limitless market.

The first I heard about BrainGear was in an email from BrainGear. “BrainGear is a mind wellness drink,” a BrainGear spokesperson explained. “Our drink contains 13 nutrients that help lift brain fog, improve clarity, and balance mood without giving you the jitters (no caffeine). It’s like a green juice for your neurons!” This company is based in San Francisco.

BrainGear offered to send me a week’s worth of BrainGear — two three-packs, each retailing for $9.99 — as a sample, to “nourish” my mind, and I agreed. What did I have to lose?

The BrainGear label said to drink an entire bottle every day, first thing in the morning, on an empty stomach, and also that it “tastes best cold,” which we all know is code for “tastes awful no matter what.”

I’d been reading about the unregulated horror of the nootropics boom, so I had reason to be cautious: In 2016, the Atlantic profiled Eric Matzner, founder of the Silicon Valley nootropics brand Nootroo. In his “Gold” and “Silver” pills , Matzner offered noopept, a synthetic memory-aid drug developed in Russia in the 1990s, and phenylpiracetam, a stimulant developed in 1983 by the Soviet space program and available in Russia only by prescription. Matzner’s company came up alongside the similarly named Nootrobox, which received major investments from Marissa Mayer and Andreessen Horowitz in 2015, was popular enough to sell in 7-Eleven locations around San Francisco by 2016, and changed its name shortly after its first clinical trial in 2017 found that its supplements were less neurologically stimulating than a cup of coffee.

(Now called HVMN, the company is still successful.)

But the ingredients list on the back of the BrainGear bottle looked mostly innocuous: the zero-calorie, GMO-free juice contained a handful of common vitamins, if in fairly absurd amounts (taking 8,333 percent of your daily recommended intake of Vitamin B12 is unnecessary, though probably not dangerous), and run-of-the mill stuff like green tea extract, a handful of acetylated amino acids used to dubious effect in most nootropic supplements available at your local grocery store, and choline bitartrate, which a 2016 study found to have no positive effect on the memory of young, healthy adults but did not find to be harmful. At the bottom of the list: 75 mg of DMAE bitartrate, which is a common ingredient in anti-aging skincare products. Okay, sure. Also, 5mg of a trademarked substance called “BioPQQ” which is — somehow — a name-brand version of PQQ, an antioxidant found in kiwifruit and papayas.

The literature that came with the bottles of BrainGear contained multiple promises. “Clinically proven to optimize cognitive function,” is one. “One big meal for your brain,” is another. “Your neurons are what they eat,” was one I found extremely confusing and ultimately a little disturbing, having never pictured my neurons with mouths. BrainGear swore my brain could be “healthier and happier,” so long as I took the time to douse it in nutrients — making the process of tending my brain sound not unlike the process of tending a Tamigotchi.

For a week, I drank the BrainGear, referring to it as my brain juice. Each day, my editors asked me if I was a genius yet. And each day, I attempted to measure the progress of my brain — which was supposed to be seeing near-immediate results, according to the BrainGear packaging — by timing how long it took me to complete a sudoku puzzle in the Brain Games “Relax and Solve” Sudoku book I ordered specifically for this purpose. This was not rigorous science, but I only cared if the product worked for me anyway.

Control day: 11 minutes, 9 seconds

Day 1: 7 minutes, 7 seconds

Day 2: Failed.

Day 3: 7 minutes, 4 seconds

Day 4: 15 minutes, 16 seconds

Day 5: 14 minutes, 42 seconds

Day 6: 10 minutes, 8 seconds

The results of my experiment were wildly inconclusive.

The brain supplements industry is still expanding. A recent report by Grand View Research estimated it could reach $10.7 billion annually by 2025, growing steadily at about 8 percent per year. “Growing health concerns over depression, anxiety, anti-aging, and sleep recovery issues” will contribute to the continued rise, the report states. Over a quarter of this business is expected to come specifically from “memory enhancing” products.

This year, nootropics have gone thoroughly mainstream by intersecting with other powerful consumer trends. Gwyneth Paltrow’s Goop recently launched an anti “brain fog” supplement called Nerd Alert (it’s just caffeine and the same L-theanine you’d get from a cup of tea), at a price point of $1 per chewable. Luxury wellness and beauty brand The Nue Co. introduced its latest supplement Nootro-Focus in April, which you can buy on Net-a-Porter. New York City’s newest ultra-hip acupuncture startup WTHN is selling a nootropic. There are, seriously, nootropics mixed with CBD

Once I started with edible brain-bettering products, it was hard to stop. I couldn’t actually get myself to eat any more of them — you pass that point after your first cursory Google about their effectiveness — but I was endlessly curious. A pitch email came in for Hanah One Daily Superfood, “formulated to support long-term health and improve focus, mental clarity, endurance and digestion,” and I accepted a sample jar (not realizing that it was worth $50.) But it smelled too much like grass blended into molasses for me to actually go through with the recommendation of mixing into “warm (not hot) water, coffee, or tea” every morning. There were about three dozen ingredients, mostly plants, but the primary one was ashwagandha — currently the most popular on the market, and not scientifically proven to do much of anything specific.adaptogen on the market, and not scientifically proven to do much of anything specific.

I solicited a sample of Qualia Mind, a daily supplement made by a San Diego-based company called Neurohacker Collective. The recommended dose of Qualia Mind is seven sawdust-scented Mike & Ike-sized capsules at once, five days a week, before breakfast, and it is designed to “lift brain fog, amplify willpower, upgrade energy, heighten creativity, fuel focus and concentration, boost brain nutrition, promote mental clarity, decrease procrastination.” It contains “the rare Ayurvedic nootropic herb known as ‘intellect tree,’ Celastrus paniculatus.”

The warning label said not to take Qualia Mind if I am on any psychiatric medicines, or sensitive to caffeine, or if I have the amino acid metabolism disorder Phenylketonuria, or if I drink alcohol. So I didn’t take it.

Nor did I take Alpha Brain, “clinically studied to help healthy individuals support memory, focus, and processing speed,” officially endorsed by podcast host Joe Rogan, who said it seems to “fire up” his brain to a “higher RPM.” Alpha Brain is manufactured by Onnit Labs, an Austin-based company founded by a man who calls his health philosophy “Total Human Optimization.”

“YOU EVER SEE THAT FICTIONAL DOCUMENTARY LIMITLESS WITH BRADLEY COOPER STARRING? ALPHA BRAIN IS AS CLOSE TO THAT AS YOU CAN GET.”

“Competition is unavoidable. No matter how altruistic your intentions, you are competing,” the website reads. “If you are in the corporate structure, you are competing for a promotion. If you are in the stock market, you are competing against other investors. If you are dating, you are competing against other suitors.” Alpha Brain contains several proprietary blends of supplements, including the Onnit Fuel Blend, which is made up of pterostilbene (the main antioxidant component of blueberries), l-leucine (an amino acid), and Vinpocetine — a synthetic derivative of an extract from periwinkle plants, which is associated with miscarriage when used during pregnancy and which is forbidden by the Food and Drug Administration from inclusion in dietary supplements.

Customer reviews on Onnit’s website vary widely, from, “You ever see that fictional documentary Limitless with Bradley Cooper starring? Alpha Brain is as close to that as you can get,” to, “All I seem to be experiencing is increased dream activity.” (In the nootropics subreddit — 186,000 members — some people talk about taking Alpha Brain solely in the pursuit of bonkers lucid dreams.) For whatever reason, Alpha Brain was also tested by the US military to see if it might improve soldiers’ marksmanship (it did not). While I purchased a jar of 14 capsules (recommended dose: two capsules per day) for $18 so that I could look at Alpha Brain, I ultimately threw them in the trash. I was already having absolutely crazy dreams because of the steroids I was on for tonsillitis. Plus, I do not like breaking the law.

Alex Jones sells a nootropic called The Real Red Pill for $40 a bottle in the InfoWars Shop. Pizzagate conspiracy theorist Mike Cernovich sells a whole line of them called Gorilla Mind. I did not try these or pay money for them.

In 2011, Penn State Alzheimer’s researcher Daniel R. George and Case Western University neurologist Peter J. Whitehouse co-authored a veritable diatribe against brain improvement products.

The doctors nimbly situate “brain fetishization” in its cultural context, writing that “whereas pre-capitalist philosophy emphasized wholeness and completeness of communities, neoliberal political systems flourishing in capitalist countries of the 21st century foster the concept of the atomistic individual within the marketplace who makes himself whole.”

All of the products I looked at had different marketing language, but the connecting thread between them was the insistence that being smarter and more productive was imminently possible through the purchase of just a few gulps or pills to get you started. Nobody was ever too specific about what intelligence is, or what focus is for, or why clarity is something you constantly need, likely because they don’t need to be. It’s the same reason Spotify doesn’t offer lengthy explanations for its “Brain Food” or “Perfect Concentration” playlists, which are self-evidently useful in a culture pathologically obsessed with individual productivity.

Nobody is taking these things for no reason. They’re pushing themselves for what seems to them like very good reasons, and turning themselves into crash test dummies.

Hedy Kober, an associate professor of psychiatry and psychology at Yale, shown a short list of the active ingredients in the nootropic samples I received, says, “there are no data suggesting that healthy people would benefit from taking these,” and singles out l-DOPA, one of the ingredients in Qualia Mind. “L-DOPA, for example, is a precursor to catecholamines including dopamine, which is an important neurotransmitter. [It’s] very useful as a treatment for individuals with Parkinson’s, and [has] no known benefit for healthy adults. In fact, l-DOPA is associated with some potentially severe side effects so taking it without medical advice can be dangerous.”

A 2015 review of the effects of various dietary supplements and vitamins found that many of the most common choices — Omega-3 fatty acids, B vitamins, and vitamin E — had no effect on the cognitive skills of “non-demented middle-aged and older adults.” Green tea extract was slightly useful. So was Concord grape juice. But neither green tea nor grape juice can be sold as magical elixirs at a price-point of several dollars per ounce.

The consumption of “neurostimulation” products is a sedentary, solitary activity, George and Whitehouse point out; we are sitting alone, throwing money at the task of improving ourselves via our brains. “But humans are not merely de-contextualized brains; in fact, brains are embedded among many other vital organs in the bodies of individual persons who are interdependent members of families, neighborhoods, local communities, national constituencies, and natural ecosystems.”

“HUMANS ARE NOT MERELY DE-CONTEXTUALIZED BRAINS”

“Are we our brains?” Felix Hasler asked. I think I hover above mine, frustrated with it as often as not. It seems mysterious and magical until it doesn’t do what I want, and then it reveals itself as a piece of flesh. So it’s easy for me to understand why someone might buy into these disgusting elixirs, with their promises of alleviating the mental burden of everyday life, providing the illusion of a clearer picture. Or of sharpening a slight competitive edge in a society where the individual is increasingly made to feel that ceding any possible advantage or passing up any opportunity for profit is irresponsible, maybe immoral. Or of pushing off the signs of aging, which are so often a precursor to feeling even more alone. Of “unlocking our full potential,” which is an example of the code we use when we want something embarrassingly simple, like happiness.

The last product I considered is the line of supplements offered by The Genius Brand, yet another nootropic created by a man in a black v-neck t-shirt, promising, “We have been lied to. Despite what society reminds us on a daily basis, you were not born just to pay your bills and die. We believe that everyone is born a Genius, but with the way the world works, it’s no wonder so many individuals fail to realize their full potential.” A jar of watermelon-flavored “Genius Consciousness” sells for $37.99, while a jar of “Genius Joy” is priced at $59.99, but is currently sold out.